A top African cardinal has described the threat posed by Islamic extremism and western liberal culture as the twin "Beasts of the Apocalypse" comparable to Nazism and communism.

In an intervention at an ongoing synod of bishops on the future of Catholic teaching on the family, Guinean cardinal Robert Sarah reportedly described Islamist militants and western thinking on abortion and homosexuality as sharing "the same demonic origin."

A 47-year-old Iowa-raised designer might seem like an unlikely candidate for overnight success in Japan, but the country's long-running love affair with classic American style has turned Todd Snyder into a fashion heavyweight.

Japan's fondness for American fashion has seen Snyder open three stores in the country in less than two years, and sparked a creative boom.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence Wednesday over the lynching of a Muslim man suspected of eating beef, calling it "unfortunate", after criticism over his failure to speak out.

Modi accused the opposition of trying to stir up controversy over the incident last month in which Mohammad Akhlaq was dragged from his home and beaten to death over rumors he had eaten beef.

New Zealand censors on Wednesday overturned the country's first book ban for more than two decades, ruling an award-winning teen novel could go on sale with no restrictions.

The book, "Into the River" by Ted Dawe, was ordered off shelves last month after conservative lobby group Family First complained about depictions of sex and drug use.

Jamaican author Marlon James on Tuesday won the Man Booker Prize for "A Brief History of Seven Killings", a re-telling of the attempted assassination of musician Bob Marley.

James, 44, is the first Jamaican to win the award in its 47-year history. One of the world's most prestigious literary awards, the Man Booker Prize carries a £50,000 (67,000 euro, $77,000) prize and winners enjoy a boost in sales and a global readership.

A disturbing tale of male friendship which features graphic depictions of child sex abuse is favorite to win the annual Man Booker Prize for best novel, being awarded in London on Tuesday.

US author Hanya Yanagihara's "A Little Life" follows four young men after they graduate from college but focuses on the traumatic past of one of them, who was abused by monks as a child and self-harms.

The Frankfurt Book Fair says the Iranian government has canceled plans for a national stand at this year's event to protest a planned appearance by British author Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie is to appear at a news conference Tuesday ahead of the annual fair's opening. The author spent years in hiding with heavy security after his novel "The Satanic Verses" drew a death edict from Iran's religious authorities.

The 2015 Nobel season wraps up Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, which could go to research into the job market or consumer behaviour, though no obvious frontrunner stands out.

The prize is to be announced on Monday at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, and will mark the close of a season that has seen the literature prize go to Belarussian writer Svetlana Alexievich and the peace prize awarded to Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet, four civil society groups that helped rescue the only democracy to emerge from the Arab Spring.

A high-ranking Polish priest who was fired after coming out as gay before the Vatican's key synod on the family said on Sunday that there was no "gay lobby" in the Church. 

Krzysztof Charamsa told a private Italian television channel that he has "never met a gay lobby in the Vatican", referring to rumors of a network of homosexual priests.

Egypt started work Saturday to remove a crust of dried glue on the beard of legendary boy pharaoh Tutankhamun's golden mask after a botched repair job on the priceless relic.

The beard fell off in an August 2014 accident at the Cairo Museum, leading to the botched repair by employees.